


do you believe in fate?

by spideynamu



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Kid Peter Parker, Minor Character Death, Peter Parker-centric, Precious Peter Parker, Teen Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-13 21:50:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20589665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideynamu/pseuds/spideynamu
Summary: Peter Parker had always felt like he was destined to be a hero, and if not a hero, he was destined to meet Tony Stark at least once in his lifetime.





	do you believe in fate?

**Author's Note:**

> and i’m back with another story! this was based on a lot of things but it’s mostly based off of peter telling tony about the stark expo in 2010, but with a little twist that includes finding nemo.
> 
> this follows the mcu and i’m pretty sure i have peter’s correct ages during each year mentioned in the story.
> 
> (lowkey had a mental breakdown over it since marvel can’t keep a timeline but we don’t talk about that.)
> 
> there is one character death in here (i’m so sorry ben), BUT it isn’t tony’s because infinity war and endgame don’t exist in this happy world called ignoring uwu.
> 
> i analyzed the scenes mentioned throughout the story to get an accurate depiction as close as i can (ex. the hammer drone scene in iron man 2).

**Queens, New York, 2008**

Peter Parker had always felt like he was destined to be a hero, and if not a hero, he was destined to meet Tony Stark at least once in his lifetime.

It all started when he was six, a few months after his parents had went away forever. At the time, seven year old him hadn’t really understood the concept of death, but all he knew was that he’d never get to see Mama and Papa again.

Back when he was still a bit shy about asking Uncle Ben and Auntie May for stuff because he didn’t want to bother them.

His Uncle was out at work while May was talking to someone over the phone, a coworker maybe, and the TV was on, blaring something about Tony Stark and a press conference.

Tony Stark was cool. Tony Stark did science too, and Peter loved science. They’d probably be best friends.

Peter glued his eyes back to white paper on the table, crayon in hand. He wanted to draw something, he just didn’t know what.

So he looked around the living room, searching for anything that he could draw. A flower would be too easy, maybe the toy car he had or maybe _aha!_

Today’s newspaper had a picture of something the country had dubbed the _Iron Man_, and everyone was wondering who the robot was.

Peter didn’t really care about who he was right now, he just wanted to draw the cool robot suit! So he did, carefully examining the grainy image on the newspaper.

He grabbed a red crayon (his favorite color!) and a gold crayon that he only used on special occasions (this was definitely special, it was a robot!).

Peter concentrated on the drawing, doing his best for a seven year old. A feminine voice blared on the screen, something about a _superhero?_ Then he heard Tony Stark’s voice.

“—not the hero type, clearly. With this uh, laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made, largely public.”

The man stopped speaking for a moment, whispering to another person Peter assumes was his friend.

“The truth is,” a long pause, anticipation filled the air.

“I am Iron Man.”

Peter looked back down at his paper, his picture of Iron Man nearly completed. Tony Stark was Iron Man. A small smile grew on his face.

_So cool._  
__

**Queens, New York, 2010**

Peter was beyond excited. There was going to be a Stark Expo! Here! His own home! 

The best part, he and Uncle Ben were gonna go together!

“Please, Aunt May, I’ve been doing really well in school, I promise I won’t ask for anything else!”

“Sweetheart, I’m not sure,” the brunette started, looking everywhere but at her nephew’s eyes because she _knew_ if she glanced at him she’d cave.

“But Auntie May, I can go with Uncle Ben!” he insisted, because Tony Stark was gonna be _here_ in Queens!

There was no way he could miss this chance, just no way!

He knew he had won when he said Auntie May (it was always Aunt May now, sometimes May) and he felt a little bad but it was Iron Man!

“Alright, okay, fine honey,” she acquiesced and Peter let out a celebratory whoop, “but you’re gonna he on dish duty for a week, deal or no deal?”

“Deal!” Peter exclaimed and started dancing around the room, not even the thought of dishes could ruin his mood now.

He was going to see Tony Stark!

—

**Stark Expo - Day 362**

Uncle Ben told Peter that they’d probably be able to go only to a day of the Expo.

Peter had started to protest, but he stopped himself, one day was better than one and one was better than none.

The Expo was the coolest thing he’d ever seen, obviously not cooler than Iron Man, but still very close. He even got an Iron Man mask and repulsor, just like his hero!

He walked around with Ben, one hand holding his while the other pointed at the items displayed.

“Uncle Ben! Look!” he pointed, and there in the sky was Iron Man.

Music started playing, bright lights colored the stage and there were some dancer ladies too (Uncle Ben said not to pay attention to them).

Iron Man flew onto the stage and then some awesome metal arms came out of the stage and wow! There was Tony Stark in the flesh.

Cheers surrounded the crowd as everyone tried to catch a glimpse of Tony Stark, and all Peter could do was cheer as loud as he could, listening intently to the man’s speech.

“It’s not about you. It’s not even about us. It’s about legacy. It’s about what we choose to leave behind for future generations.”

More yells for Iron Man.

“—brightest men and women of nations and corporations the world over will pool their resources, share their collective vision, to leave behind a brighter future. It’s not about us.”

Peter looked up at him through the mask, feeling braver and more determined than he ever had. He could be one of those men and women one day.

A video of Howard Stark started playing but Peter was already tugging on Ben’s sleeve.

“Come on, Uncle Ben, over there!”

The pair ended up walking into a building, where other fans stood, hoping for a chance to meet Tony Stark. Peter really wasn’t sure if he’d get the chance too, but he crossed his fingers anyway.

Peter ended up straying a bit from Uncle Ben, a little closer to the doors this time, next to a girl about his age. The metal doors opened and out walked Tony Stark himself, a bright grin plastered on his face.

Peter was _starstruck._

Tony Stark, Iron Man, was right there and _holy shit he was right in front of him._

If May had known he’d said that she would’ve put him on dish duty for two weeks because _we don’t use that language here, Pete._

Peter decided not to remind her that Ben and her used that language all the time.

May had told him he couldn’t say that word, Ben had said he could only use that word during dire situations and never in front of May. He never specified what dire meant but Peter was pretty sure _this_ was dire and May wasn’t here so _holy shit._

The girl next to him got her picture signed, and Peter felt a bit bummed he hadn’t brought one. But then Tony Stark had patted him on the head (helmet?).

“See ya buddy.”

Tony Stark had just called him buddy. He just met his idol. If someone had lifted his mask off his face, they would’ve been blinded by the smile Peter had on his face.

_So cool._  
__

**Stark Expo - Day 343**

Peter was back at the Stark Expo again.

He still remembers the last time he’d went, where he’d met Tony Stark, and didn’t stop talking about it for two weeks. 

He was pretty sure May and Ben were getting a teensy bit annoyed about it but how could he _not_ talk about it? Sure, some of the other kids at school might have not believed him, but that’s okay because he’d still met Tony Stark.

Then one day he’d gotten home, surprised to see both Ben and May at home, if he remembered right Ben was supposed to be at work.

“Uncle Ben? Don’t you have work?” Peter asked, “I mean— not that I’m not glad that you’re here or anything but—”

May laughed softly at Peter’s flustered rambling.

“It’s alright honey, we just wanted to talk to you about something.”

Okay, cool. Peter could work with that, but surprise? He didn’t remember any special occasions coming up recently.

“It’s a bit of an early birthday gift, but your Aunt managed to get us all tickets to that Expo tonight from her friend, bud, how ‘bout it?”

Oh, his birthday, right. 

A few seconds passed by and he finally processed what his Uncle had said. Eyes wide, he nodded excitedly, of course he’d go again!

“Yes! Let’s go, thank you so much Ben, May!” he cried and threw his arms around them as best as he could.

Peter’s pretty sure they understood he wasn’t just thanking them for the Expo.  
__

Going back to the Expo the second time feels as magical as the first time, he was pretty sure most of his classmates might’ve chosen Disneyland over this but Peter would choose the Expo anyday.

On stage wasn’t Tony Stark this time, which was kind of a bummer but maybe he’d show up later, like a surprise?

This time it was a man named Justin Hammer, and he was showing these bots that looked a lot like knock offs of the Iron Man suit.

There was another suit that looked exactly like Iron Man’s, just silver. A loud _whoosh_ came from somewhere above him and it was Iron Man!

That’s where it all went wrong. 

All the knock off suits started flying upwards and everyone in the audience started running away, trying to get away from whatever those bots were firing.

He turned around, looking for Ben and May but he couldn’t find them anywhere. A wave of fear washed through him, where were they?

He stood there frozen, wondering what he should do and why couldn’t he just _move?_

A loud _clunk_ in front of him and looked up through the eyes of his Iron Man mask, eyes widened in fear because _holy shit that bot was aiming at him._

At the time, when older Peter looked back at this, he’d laugh at how stupid his younger self had been, but right now, eight year old Peter made a split second decision and aimed the light up repulsor he bought straight at the bot.

A familiar metal _clang_ echoed behind him and he jumped back in surprise when Iron Man himself had shot the bot.

“Nice work, kid.”

Peter knew he was gonna be in so much trouble later, especially when he heard May’s yell behind him, but Tony Stark had just told him nice work.

He looked up at the sky, back at his repulsor and wished Iron Man good luck.

_So cool._  
__

**Queens, New York, 2016**

Something felt different as he walked home from school today.

His senses were doing a little better, the worst sensory overload was a while ago, when _that_ happened.  
__

_“Uncle Ben! Ben! No, please, please don’t go,” Peter cried, he didn’t know what to do, what could he do?_

_The sound of the soft rain was like nails landing on the concrete floor of the alley they were in._

_The sight of Ben in front of him, bleeding, red so bright he should’ve been blind, and all he could do was sit there and apply pressure._

_The feeling of Ben’s hands clasped across him seemed to listen but no, no, this couldn’t be happening not to Ben._

_The smell of blood and sweat was too strong, all amplified by his new senses, he had to repress the reflex to gag._

_The taste of regret, guilt, and sadness mixed with the salty tears because he could’ve stopped this, he could’ve saved Ben._

_“Pete.. Peter, look at me, son.”_

_He glanced down, eyes taking in the sight before him, Ben bleeding, Ben barely breathing, Ben was dying._

_He applied more pressure, swearing at himself for leaving his phone at home. A part of him knew the paramedics wouldn’t arrive in time, and carrying Ben wouldn’t be enough either._

_He told that part of him to just shut the fuck up for once, please._

_“Peter,” a pause, a faint breath, Peter’s heart sank, “s’alright, did good, son.”_

_A struggling breath, and Ben Parker took his last breath on the concrete floor, Peter wishing he could forget the sound of his dying heartbeat._  
__

He took a deep breath and kept on walking. Not right now. He yanked his earphones out his sweatshirt pocket, pressed shuffle and kept walking.

He looked down and smiled at the DVD player in his hand, seriously, what was with people and throwing away perfectly good stuff?

Peter greeted a few of his apartment neighbors, and stepped into the elevator, that feeling of something was going to happen still there.

Whatever it was didn’t seem like a threat, yet, anyway, he learned his lesson after that cat in the tree a week ago.

A _ding_ from the elevator and he stepped out, unlocking the apartment door.

“Hey May.” he called out, dropping off his stuff.

“Hey,” she called out softly, “how was school today?”

He walked towards the kitchen, intending to hang his keys up.

“Okay. There’s this crazy car parked outside,” he answered, finally looking towards his aunt and paused.

Tony Stark was right there. Tony Stark was sitting on their couch, why was he sitting there? And _was that May’s walnut date loaf in his hand?_

“Oh, Mr. Parker.” 

Tony ‘I am Iron Man.’ Stark was right there in his living room holy shit.

“Um.. what, what are you, what are you doing, hey, I’m—I’m, I’m Peter.” did he just stammer in front of his idol, maybe a flip out the window was a way to go.

“Tony.” he stated simply and yeah right there’s no was he was just _Tony._

“What’re you—what’re you, what’re you doing here?” he asked because unless this was a dream he’d never actually talked to him.

A lot of the conversation was spent with Peter having an internal breakdown while trying his best to play along with whatever was happening because he definitely did _not_ apply for a grant.

“Can I have five minutes with him?”

May seemed a little skeptical but went along with it anyway, “Sure.”  
__

Peter really, really hoped his Iron Man figurine he bought when he was eight was hidden away.

“Anyway, look I definitely did not apply for your gran—” he started.

“Nuh-uh! Me first,” Mr. Stark paused, pulling out a phone, “quick question of the rhetorical variety, that’s you right?”

Peter Parker panicked. He wanted to say yes, yes because it’d been so hard to do everything alone but no, there was a reason why this was all a secret.

He had to protect May and Ned, and that wouldn’t happen if anyone knew his secret, even if it was Tony Stark.

So he deflected, immediately stating adamantly (he might’ve stumbled a bit) that _no he was not Spider-Man._

“Wow, nice catch, 3,000 pounds, 40 miles an hour, s’not easy,” he paused, looking directly at him, “you got mad skills.”

In any other situation Peter would’ve snorted at hearing any adult saying _mad skills_ but right now wasn’t one of them. 

Time to pull up the Youtube and Photoshop excuse, which he was pretty sure would’ve worked if Mr. Stark hadn’t found his suit in the ceiling.

Damn it, so close.

“Who else knows? Anybody?” Mr. Stark asked.

“Nobody.” Peter shook his head.

“Not even you’re unusually attractive aunt?”

Okay, no, if May knew, she’d freak out on him and then he’d freak out and then they’d both freak out. 

“You know what I think is really cool? This webbing, tensile strengths if off the charts.” he threw a web cartridge and Peter easily caught it.

“I did.” he answered easily, a rush of pride at the fact that Tony Stark had just complimented his webbing.

Man as much as he admired Mr. Stark and his work both as Iron Man and Tony Stark, this was not how we was expecting his day to go.

“You’re in _dire_ need of an upgrade, systemic, top to bottom, 100 point restoration that’s why I’m here.” and Peter might have geeked out a little bit, but only a little.

“Why are you doing this? I gotta know, what’s your MO?” he started.

“What gets you out of that twin bed in the morning?”

Flashbacks of blood and Ben bleeding, his last breath, his last words, how his life changed after that day.

“Look, when you can do the things that I can, but you don’t,” a pause, “and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.”

Yeah, looking out for the little guy, because there was no way Peter could let the same thing that happened to Ben to anyone else.

“Ya got a passport?” 

“Um, no, I don’t—I don’t even have a driver’s license.” Peter stammered.

“Y’ever been to Germany?” Mr. Stark asked.

“No,” he answered, a bit confused.

No, he could not go to Germany, he had physics homework due tomorrow.

“I can’t go to Germany.” he argued.

“Why?”

“I—I got homework.” he trailed off weakly, hoping that would work.

It didn’t, but at least he tried. The next few moments happened way too fast, something about telling Aunt May, which is as an absolute _no._

So on instinct he easily webbed Mr. Stark’s hand to the door.

“Don’t tell Aunt May.”

And that’s how Peter found himself fighting Captain America and some of the other Avengers in an airport in Germany.  
__

**Upstate New York, New York, 2017**

“Hey, FRI,” Peter greeted the A.I., entering the Avengers Compound, today was a lab day!

“Hello, Peter, how was your day?” she inquired softly, her Irish lilt calming him down.

“So stressful, tests, y’know? Hey, where’s Mr. Stark?” he asked, confused to not see the man down in his lab.

Did Mr. Stark finally go to sleep for once? Or maybe he ate something that wasn’t coffee for once? Or maybe something bad happened and—

“Hey Pete, how do you feel about a movie night today? Ya look like shit, kid.”

And for once Peter agreed with him, he did feel shitty, he hadn’t even patrolled today, after the whole incident of sleep deprivation and stabbing, May and Mr. Stark had grounded him for three weeks. Never again.

“Okay, can I choose today?” he asked, because he loved Mr. Stark but some of his choices were so, well, _old._

“Fine, just this time, kiddo,” he rolled his eyes, the smallest trace of affection in his voice, “what movie do you want?”

“Uh.. haven’t seen Finding Nemo in a while?” he shrugged sheepishly expecting some remark about much of a kid he was.

“Alright, kiddie, let’s go!” and Mr. Stark ushered both of them to the movie room.  
__

Five minutes later they were bundled up on the couch, Tony’s fingers naturally running through Peter’s curls.

Peter watched as Marlin frantically searched for Nemo, only to realize he couldn’t find his son. Something tugged at Peter’s heart for Marlin. 

That must really, really suck. 

Peter pretended he didn’t feel the way Tony’s grip tightened around him during that scene. Tony pretended he didn’t feel the way Peter clutched at his t-shirt for the majority of the movie.

They both knew it anyway.

Throughout the whole movie, Peter couldn’t help but feel like he forgot something. A couple minutes passed as he tried wracking his brain for whatever this _something_ was.

And then it clicked.

“Hey Mr. Stark,” he started, rolling his eyes when his mentor muttered something about calling him Tony, “do you remember the first time we met?”

Tony looked at him weirdly, “Course I do, kid, unless you’re assuming that I’m too old to remember something from a year ago?”

“No, no, hey wait! I got it!” Peter pulled out his phone to find the pictures May had shown him.

“Look at this!” he said and shoved his phone unceremoniously into his face.

“Do that again and I’ll disown you.” 

“Nah, you won’t.” he pouted.

“No I won’t,” Mr. Stark agreed, and sighed while Peter grinned triumphantly.

The first picture showed Peter grinning at the camera, holding up a too small t-shirt, the words saying _Stark Expo 2010._

“Aw, didn’t know you were a fan, Spiderling.” he chuckled as Peter huffed.

“I met you for like a second on that first day y’know? You were like, see ya buddy, and my eight year old self thought that was so cool.”

Tony hummed, as he swiped to the next picture, a glint of recognition in his eyes.

The second picture showed eight year old Peter wearing an Iron Man mask, a fake repulsor that aimed at the camera while his other hand did a peace sign, and the Stark Expo t-shirt.

“That was _you?_” Tony asked bewildered because holy shit Peter could’ve died.

But before he could dwell on that any further, Peter was already rambling.

“Yeah! Yeah, May and Ben were so mad, but y’know, I was eight and Iron Man just said—”

“Nice work, kid.” Tony easily finished, a smile on his face.

“You little shit, you’ve been reckless since you were a fetus.” Tony teased, poking at Peter’s side.

“Hey! I was eight! This is bullying!”

Tony grinned and swiped to the third picture, a smirk on his face as he saw a ten year old Peter dressed in an Iron Man costume, his mask lifted off his face as he beamed at the camera.

“Hey Spider-Baby, what’s this, huh?”

Peter glanced over at the photo, his face immediately flushed, and he easily yanked the phone out of Tony’s grasp, courtesy to his super strength.

“No, no you weren’t supposed to see that, that never happened, bye Mr. Stark.” he complained and promptly face planted back into Tony’s side.

He grinned down at him, and they continued the rest of the movie.

Something about the reunion scene between Marlin and Nemo did something to Tony. He looked down at Peter, his eyes dropping as he stubbornly tried to watch the movie.

“Hey, Pete?” he whispered softly.

A hum of acknowledgement came from the Spider-Kid as he tilted his head up, blinking at him, and Tony _almost_ cooed, he was exactly like Bambi.

“You know I’ll always try and find you right?”

Peter looked at him, more focused this time, a sleepy smile on his face.

“Yeah?” Peter asked.

“Always.”  
__

And if Tony asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to save those pictures Peter had shown him, and framed them up in his lab, nobody had to know.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are highly appreciated!
> 
> reviews and criticism are appreciated as well. 
> 
> thank you so much for reading <3000


End file.
